Homeless man earns a job, and a friend, at cafe

Cesia Abigail with Marcus, the homeless man who now works in her cafe.
(Photo: Ceci Abi/Facebook)

When a homeless man named Marcus wandered into Abigail's Cafe on East Lake Street in Minneapolis asking for spare change, he didn't get turned away. Owner Cesia Abigail looked at the man and asked, "Why don't you have a job? You know nothing is given to me for free right?"

Marcus responded that he had "a lot of felonies." Because of his record, no one wanted to hire him, so he had made cash the only way he knew how: "stealing and asking for money."

Although the 25-year-old Abigail had hit some hard times of her own at the cafe, she was short-staffed that day and decided to offer Marcus the task of washing dishes that day.

"His eyes opened wide and his smile made my day!!!!" she wrote on Facebook. "He said I'll do anything for some food."

Marcus washes dishes at Abigail's Cafe where he now works two hours a day. (Photo: Ceci Abi/Facebook)

For the past two weeks, Marcus has been on time every day for his daily two-hour shift where he works washing dishes and taking out trash. He uses the money he makes to buy his own food at the restaurant, refusing to take it for free.

"A lot of people are saying I've been a blessing for him, but at that point I was the one who needed a blessing," Abigail told CBS News.

Abigail's post has earned a lot of attention. It has been shared more than 38,000 times and received more than 3,400 comments. Because many people have asked how they can help Marcus, she set up a GoFundMe page with a modest goal of $1,000. The hope, she says, is to create "more hours and opportunities for him as well as others in the community."

Abigail said she shared the story, hoping that other people might be moved to help a stranger, too.

"Do something nice for someone today and don't judge them just because they out there asking for money, for we don't know their situation," she said in her post. "some deserve another shot."